𝗙𝗔𝗨𝗟𝗧𝗦 | anakin skywalker

✰ 20: the night watch

{tw: light blood, injuries, mention of needle}

"Whoa. Are you okay, Akya?"

"Other than exhausted, I'm fine."

Ahsoka raised her brows. "Are you sure about that?"  She looked over at Akya's badly wrapped arm.  Kix, a medic from the 501st, unwrapped it carefully as Akya lay on one of the beds in their tents.  She was cold, as she had to take her overcoat off for Kix to fix up her arm, but that's just how things were on Agamar.

"Oh, that," said Akya. "It's—" She breathed in sharply and closed her eyes as Kix took off the last bandage over the large gash, revealing a mess of dried blood and a mostly open wound. Finally, she breathed out.

"Sorry," said Kix. "It might hurt for a bit."

"It's okay," said Akya. She opened her eyes once again, but looked away once she found the mess that was her arm.  When it happened, it didn't feel this bad.  Now it hurt like hell.

"I can take your watch shift tonight," Ahsoka offered.

"No," Akya said immediately.  "I can do it."

"Are you sure?" Ahsoka said.  "I don't mind."

"I want to do it," said Akya.  The one thing Akya truly enjoyed about these missions where they had to stay on the surface for more than one day were the night shifts. Away from the warmth of the ships or even Coruscant, Akya wasn't the biggest sleeper.  Sure, she was injured and particularly tired today— but that didn't change things.  She enjoyed the sounds of night on every planet, and she especially enjoyed being all alone and staring up at the stars, staring up at every collection and making up constellations of her own.  It also gave her time to meditate and collect herself after a long day.  The time alone was something that brought her joy.

"Okay," said Ahsoka with a shrug.  "Do you need anything?"

"No," said Akya, shaking her head.  Suddenly, Kix poured something on the wound, causing Akya to inhale sharply and close her eyes once again as the solution sunk into the gash. 

"Sorry," he said again, taking a towel and patting it dry.  "I had to clean it."

"It's alright, Kix," she said, having finally opened her eyes.

"I've got to stitch it up," said Kix.  "I'll numb it, but you'll feel a couple pinches.  Then I'll wrap it again."

Akya nodded.

"I'm gonna leave you to that," said Ahsoka, pointing in the other direction.  "I can't watch that kind of stuff."

"Believe me, I wish I could leave the room," said Akya.  "Let Anakin and Master Obi-Wan know how I'm doing."

"Will do," nodded Ahsoka.  With one last smile, she walked off. Kix took out a needle and Akya felt a quick pinch as he injected her arm with a numbing agent. She felt the pins and needles overcome her arm and knew he would begin stitching soon, so she shut her eyes and turned to the side.

"Stay as still as possible," he told her.

"Okay," said Akya.

He begun stitching her up, and she felt every pinch into her skin as he did so, though she was glad it was numb enough that it didn't hurt so badly.  After the procedure, Kix wrapped her back up and told her it was best for her to rest for a while if she really was going to do night watch.  She listened to his advice, and woke up to Anakin's smiling face over her later that night, shaking her awake calmly.

"Akya," he called softly.

She rubbed her eyes and looked up at him, smiling groggily.  He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead.

"Anakin," she scolded, looking around to make sure no one else was in the room.  She sat up slowly. 

"There's no one here," he said. "I came to tell you I'm done with my shift."

"Perfect," said Akya, swinging her legs over the side of the cot.  She stood up and grabbed her cloak and her lightsaber from a table beside them.

"You know, I don't mind taking another shift.  Are you sure you're up to it?"

"Absolutely," said Akya, attaching her saber to her belt.  Anakin took her cloak into his hands and held it behind her, helping her into it.  She nodded in thanks. "You know how much I like being out there."

"I know," he nodded. 

"Get some rest, Anakin."

He nodded.  "Okay."  She pulled her hood over her head and walked toward the opening of the medical tent. "Wait," she heard Anakin call.  She turned around and he pulled her close, giving her a deep kiss, something they hadn't been able to acquire in a while with all the battles going on. She ran his fingers through his hair, something becoming much more wonderful to do as it got longer.  She'd never even known he had curls before this. 

"I should go," she whispered to him.

Anakin sighed.  "Stay safe." 

They stepped outside of the tent and gave each other one last, quick smile before he went to his sleeping tent and she went toward the outskirts of their camp.

She took a seat on the snow outside and huddled up in her cloak for warmth.  There was no breeze, so the cold wasn't too biting.  She could stand it for a while.  She was glad to be patrolling the east end of camp— the west end was shielded by trees and most likely much colder. Here, she could look up at the clear sky of Agamar and the stars in it, creating constellations of every shape and size. Akya's shift was until sunrise, which was in a couple hours— but passing the time came easy to her, especially out here.

In one collection of stars, she could make out two figures— limbs, heads, torsos— both connected by one star which she imagined to be their intertwined hands. She smiled, imagining the stars coming together to create these star-crossed lovers in the sky. Almost like the Force bringing her and Anakin together.

The snowy planet was beautifully peaceful at this time of night. She could hear animals scurrying into the forest and watched as small creatures made footprints in the snow, then burrowed down into the dirt. She felt a presence behind her, and smiled, turning in hopes of finding a small animal just in arms' reach—

But before she could fully turn around, a hand covered her mouth.  She began kicking and screaming through the cold, metallic fingers, but they muffled her sound.  She heard someone running toward her in the distance, listening to their footsteps through the snow— perhaps the scout from the west end of camp coming to save her!  But before they got a chance to do so, something was injected into her neck, and she felt herself getting weary.  The last thing she saw before she gave into the drowsiness was a blast being fired in her supposed saviors' direction.  Then darkness.

a.n.:

wrote SOOOOO much good stuff today. revenge of the sith stuff. so i thought I'd publish a chapter. this is a good one. sorry about that cliffhanger. me being a little evil

literally akya enjoying her moment then BAM. sorry girl had to traumatize you a little bit. ily though

have you been looking at the graphic gallery? if not, there's some good stuff in there.  you should look at it. lots of fun visuals!

ily, don't forget to vote ♡

molly